Silver_Lana

NOTE: This is purely my opinion and is not representative of any group of persons.

I have noticed that since we have started doing combined meets, lots of people say they'll show but dont.
I am going to go out on a limb and propose a reason for this behaviour.

Most MBWorld long term members that I know and would show up at this sort of thing are not into the "race" crowd as much as people think. Most I think, would rather hang out, show off their cars have some BBQ and put back a few cool beers. At least that was the impression I had from all the other meets before the combined ones came to be.

If I am totally offbase here, let me know but I think this accounts for some of the no-shows that have been noticed.

Personally, i prefer the laid back kind of meet myself.

Cheers everyone!

tommy

Amazingly, I actually agree with S_L for once.

I think that the next meet should be something like the "old" ones, where we go to Johnson Park or similar, have a bbq and a few drinks. Though, if he ever shows up for another meet, we should keep track of rb88's drink count; MADD would appreciate it. It just seems to me like there isn't really much interest in the type of meet that we just had.

moa4r

What exactly is the "current (combined) type" of meet like?? How is not laid back?? What is the differnce?

alewifebp

Well, I don't know why everyone didn't show up, but I can assume that in some instances, we didn't want to be the underdogs at the meet, which we were, at least in terms of number of cars. Also the horrors of the Belt Parkway, and worries about Brooklyn may have also kept some people away.

Personally, I liked the multi-meet, which I felt was pretty laid back. Being a former Lexus owner, I wanted to meet and greet with them too, which would not be practical at a single brand meet.

While I didn't do a count, considering the size of FBF, I don't think that as many people showed up as was originally planned for the other brands. I saw pictures of a meet for ClubLexus at FBF, and they seemed to have a huge turnout (almost as many GS's as there were cars total at this meet).

The question to ask is whether there was much better representation at single brand meets for MB's? I don't know, this is the first meet of any kind I have been too.

Something else that may be a novel idea would be name tags.

tommy

I agree - it felt like a nerdy idea before the event, but it certainly would have helped a lot.

Silver_Lana

That is a great idea.
I for one will be wearing one at the next meet I attend.

Silver_Lana

Did you ever attend a meet before the current combined types?
There was a certain atmosphere that was palatably different from the ones at the last two.
It just worked better for me and I think it did for a lot of people too.

Another sentiment I have heard echoed on the board is the fact that MB owners tend to be on the more conservative side so the "flash" or "bling" of the other Brand/tuner inspired meets might not suit their tastes.

Taucher

Main reason I haven't shown up has been family related. My two boys are very active in sports, which do sometimes take place on weekends. As a married father of two I don't always get to do whatever I want whenever I want I would prefer a more laid back meet, whether it's just MB's or others doesn't much matter. Distance is also a factor. I don't want to spend 12 hours away from home on a weekend, too much else to do. There's my two cents....... One of these days, everthing will fall into place and I will show up, but I usually won't be able to commit until the night before....weather permitting. BBQ in the rain just isn't fun.

Taucher

Taucher
C32AMG - STOCK and proud of it! !

RedSLKChic

I had very unexpected houseguests for the weekend, and I made it known that I would have rather gone to the meet than watched them sit around and talk. I give myself points for showing up to every Cougar meet on the East Coast for 2 years, even for chapters I wasn't part of, so there! :p Oh well, maybe I'll have better luck next time.

Air Marshall Eldritch

Why am I always the lone alcoholic?

I agree with SL that the smaller laid-back BBQ is something I like best.
I have no problem with mixed meets, though I'm really not all that interested in looking at Lexi. More importantly, I like to see the people here on the forums to put faces against the screen personas. Who would know what an attractive bunch you all are without meeting in person?
Since I don't read other car boards, those people are complete strangers to me, rather than strange people I happen to know.

I also prefer something reasonably close by. Edison is always a good choice. Since we all seem to be commitment-phobes, I really don't want to drive 2 hours to scary Brooklyn just to wind up possibly alone. Plus, with gas prices as they are, I'd have to hock one of the baby seats to raise the gas money.

Silver_Lana

Because you are the only one to voluntarily squeeze into a tight space for extended ammounts of time.

face118

So are we going to have a BBQ meet at Edison soon before the summer past by....

tommy

I think we should do one in July.

Since he started this thread, Silver_Lana will be picking up the tab. Even RB88's scary bar tab.

face118

How about everyone chip in some $$$ (get food & drink) to make it work..

Silver_Lana

Absolutely!

I am willing to pick up some of it but as long as tommy is somehow forced to suffer, it will all work out great!

tommy

Bluecoupe and I were talking about this yesterday, and it makes sense to just centralize everything, and charge people for the bbq, instead of trying to do a formal list. It's kind of what I've done in prior meets anyway, since I always seemed to contribute the majority of sh*t. No violins necessary!

But doing a bbq meet sounds good for next month. Still waiting for the chance to drive the slk!

RRRize

I have to admit that I was very disappointed and somewhat resentful of the abscence of the Mercedes guys who added their names to the MB roll call but didn't show. Why? Well, because, yes, I am a BMW owner and enthusiast, but above all I am a CAR enthusiast and I love MBs and was looking forward to seeing a good variety of them and meeting their owners and talking about your perspectives on modding and various other topics.

Of the 3 invited groups, the only group who collectively renigged on their committment to show was the MB guys. I mean, Vik and Tommie expended a lot of effort to round and rallie the MB camp up and for people who said they were coming to not come was not only a let down for people like myself who were really looking forward to you, but Tommie and Vik were clearly disappointed, based on the effort they put forth to get you there. Vik and I had a conversation while we were plannig the June 13th meet and he expressed to me how excited he was that the MB growth, as seen by the roll call, was positive and exciting to him!

In any event, I still have a huge admiration for Mercedes Benz and I suppose I will just have to continue to hit the magazines and prowl on MBWorld.ord to learn things about MB cars... since I'm not allowed the opportunity to meet up with you folks at these hybrid meets.

(I have zipped up my flame suit. I am ready. But I want you guys to know that I still have intense luv for you folks! It's just that as one of the coordinators of this meet, I feel a sence of ownership and closeness to the meet and so expressing my honest feeling about things is easy.)

Ron

Silver_Lana

Hey, no need for a flame suit, you can feel free to show up at our meet.
We MB owners seem to prefer a different kind of meet.
Plus at MB meets you can make business contacts too - except tommy. No advancement allowed for him what so ever!


Note to self: Must resist urge to pick on tommy more.

P.S. Tommy: check your PM box!

tommy

Waiting! You do know that you have to hit the "Send Message" button, right?

Ron, do you feel better now? What can you do, though? Sometimes, you build it and they do not come. That must have been the alternate ending to Field of Dreams. Sh*t happens.

RRRize

Thanx Silver_Lana! I will definitly take you up on that. I will rely on tommy to let me know when you guys put together a meet.

I can absolutely appreciate that you MB guys prefer a "different" kind of meet. Honestly, I think you guys and the Lexus guys are very similiar in what you like in a meet. That being said, I love the Lexus way so I'm sure I will enjoy meeting with you guys.

Thanx again for the open invitation and understanding.

Ron

Air Marshall Eldritch

I have to go back to indonesia soon after the holiday. Can you pleeeeze make it late July so I don't miss another one?

pleeeeezzze?

I'll kick in some money or cheap Marlboros. I get them for $7 per carton.

face118

Let set up a date! Any Suggestion? Sat. or Sun.?

Silver_Lana

Okay then, Late July it is!

Any suggestions for a date?

Saturdays: 17th, 24th, 31st
Sundays: 18th, 25th

CitronC230K_03

plus a combined meet gets a lot of bimmers who drive crazy like oc tour nights i went to last summer!! it was nuts. had a good time, but it was nuts!